Game board



Oct. 6, 1931. A. N. LATIMER 1,825,673

GAME BOARD Filed March 22, 1928 /za El- Ha/zda Bra/are K J 10 '1 6 ll 32 Sheets-Sheet l Players l l l Namw Oct. 6, 1931. N LAT|MER 1,825,673

GAME BOARD Filed March 22, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 6H0: u c 1 3 PatentedOct. 6, 1931 umrlso STATES ALBER'I." N. LATIHEF, F YORK, N. Y.

the type adapted to be utilized in connection PATENT OFFICE GAME BOARDApplication filed much 22, was Serial sarcasm.

Broadly this invention relates to game boards, but it is more especiallydirected to with the game Ofbridge.

A principal object of this invention is the provision of a game board ofthis character arranged to show the cards held by each player and meansfor indicating and recording each play made, and additional means for.

- adaptable in connection with illustrating and above character whichmaybe passed from recording a bridge game as played and broadcast byexperts over the radio, and permitting the registration of such handsand plays so broadcast for future reference and practice-( I Anotherobject is to provide a board of the player to player and to record eachplay as made, but further adaptable to show the hands held by each layerand record of the la as made to e ect the working out of ri g'e problemsand to improve the efliciency of a player by practice.

Another object of this invention is-the provision of a board of thischaracter having its plane face marked to indicate card positionsarranged in 'four a plurality of "ca eard suits so arranged thatsuitable markers ma be positioned to indicate the hands held an recordof plays as made. 1

A still furtherobject is the provision of a game board of this characterand an individual means held by each player to indicate the players handonly to prevent the otherlayers from knowing what hand the others eld,the card symbols. being transferable from said individual means to theprimary board'to indicatethe play by tricks, as above outlined.-' 1

Another object is the provision of a game board of slightly modifiedform adapted for use with the individual holders for hands beoups, eachof which has positions for each of the fore play, and means for holdingthe game pieces or card symbols after play and for effecting shufihng ofsaid pieces for new deal,

etc, said modified board also being susceptible of employment with theindividual holders and primary board to effect afurtheryariation in playwhen desired.

Still another important object is'the rovision of a practice board ofthe type a ve described, suitably constructed of wood,

' paper, leather or the like, susceptible of being easily transported inthe pocket or hand bag for utilization in traveling, as well as in thehome, club, or wherever it may be desirable to play alone or with otherplayers.

With these and other ob] acts in view, which will become apparent as thedescription pro ceeds, the invention resides in the construction,combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described anclaimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which likecharacters of referen'ce indicate like parts throughout the severalfigures, of which: Fig. 1 is a top plan view of my improved game-boardshowing the card symbols or game pieces arranged by handsbefore play,and indicating the tricks played. Fig. 2- is a fragmentary crosssectional view of Fig. 1 and through the container for the game pieces.7

Fig. 3, is a "perspective view of one of the holders for the handsbeforeplay.

i F i 4 is a plan view of a modified form of boar adapted for individualuse or in conjunction with the primary board; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the cup shown in Fig. 4. a

The types of game board with which'I am familiar have proven deficientfor purposes of individual practice, and in working out bridge problems,and inca ableof readily indicating the hands held y all players and soindicating the play by tricks of each player as to render at a glancejust what tricks have been layed in their sequence, plays yet to be mae, dealer, trump declared, etc., and also being inca able of varying thesystem of pla etc., an it was to overcome suchdeliciencies and toprovide a game board and system of play adapted to variations toexpedite working out bridge problems and designed as an eiiicient meansof practice to improve an individuals game, and equally 5 susceptible ofemployment by a number of players, that I designed the game board andassociated board and holder forming the subject matter of thisinvention.

In the illustrated embodiment characterizing this invention there isshown a game board 1 which may be constructed of any suitable materialand foldable if desired, but in the present instance, preferablyconstructed of wood, bearing markings as hereinafter described.

The face of theboard 1 is divided into two ruled sections A and B,respectively, A is formed with a plurality of vertical columns 2representing ace, king, queen, jack, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, four,three, and deuce,

denoting value of the cards from ace to deuce, respectively, and abovesaid columns being inscribed Hands before play 3. To the extreme left isthe vertical column indicated by the letter P, Players and divided intofour groups extending longitudinaL ly across the sections A and B andrepresenting the four players, as North 4, East 5, South 6 and West 7,each of said groups bethe section B being similarly divided intovertical columns 1 to 13 inclusive, representing the possible number oftricks each player may take, and denoted at 12' the Words Play by tricksappearing at the top of said columns as at 13 A suit column D is shownat the left of said section B similar to section A. Separating sectionsA and B is a vertical column E with the words appearing at the top Trumpdeclared. Following the column 13 is a column W with the word Winner atthe top thereof. To the right of said column W is column F divided intofour'sections, section 14, with the letter D for Dealer appearingtherein, section 15 with the letters N. T. or N 0 trump appearingtherein, and section 16 adapted to have markers 0 representing each ofthe respective suits 8, 9, 10 and 11. for a purpose hereinafterapparent, and section 17 with the word Winner appearing therein.

The card symbols representing the card units corresponding to the deckof 52 cards are employed in connection with the above board as playerpieces and while they may be of various types, such as conforming to theconfiguration of the card suits, colors, 7 in the present instance theyare of thumb tacks, each tack bearing a symbol of one of the 52 cardsand are adapted to be 05 used in play according to the rules of bridge,

in the form ing divided into four longitudinal columns and are indicatedby the letter Z. Additional markers of similar type and denoted by theletter C are employed and when placed in proper positions on the board 1are adapted to indicate trump declared, .trumps, no trumps, dealer,winner, etc., as hereinafter more fully appearing.

In cases where it is desirable that each player be acquainted with hisown hand only, a paddle board 18 is employed, formed with a handle 19and adapted to be supplied to each player, but for purposes ofillustration only one will be referred to, and having markings on itsface substantially similar to the left hand of the board 1, butrepresenting one group only, in the present instance, north 4, with acolumn P representative of the four suits 8', 9, 10 and 11 respectively,and vertical columns 2' representing the various card values,.such asace, king, queen, jack, etc., and at the extreme right hand a trumpcolumn 20, so that as the card symbols are dealt they can be placed inthe respective suit and face value positions, so that the hand held mayat all times be readily viewed by the holder. This holder of course,represents each individual hand before play, and may be used inconjunction with board lwhere secretive play is desired. The varioussymbols being removable in course of play to the Play 95 by tricks sideof the board in the same manner as above described, in connection withboard 1, and the same card symbols Z being 'used.

-ciple not materially different from that of board 1. This board isadapted to be used in conjunction with holder 18 andalso in conjunctionwith board 1 according to the system of play desired, as hereinaftermore fully appearing.

The board is provided with a centrally dis- 1 posed square 21, with eachof its four sides formed by a checkered border 22, and four lines arepositioned slightly spaced from each of the four sides of the borderdesignating, respectively, a card or suit, namely, Spades 8', Hearts 9,Diamonds 10, and Clubs 11, representing the four play ers respectively,North 4, East 5', South 6 and West 7', and normally positioned in thecenter of the board is a cup 23 adapted to hold the game pieces forpurposes of shuflling, etc.,. as will hereinafter-appear.

The said border is divided into parallel checkered columns 24 and 25respectively, 24 having the word Play, designated as 26, at the head ofeach column, and numerals 1 to 13 inserted in the respetive squares,preferably in red, as designated by 27 and the c0lumn 25 bearing thewords Tricks won indicated at 28 and having darts or arrows 29 6 counteror marker C in the hold symbols making up the respective cardsuits wherethe board is to be utilized sepa rate from board 1, the symbols 0denoting the suits, no trump, dealer, etc., are employed as withboard 1for a similar purpose and, likewise, are in addition to the card symbolsZ used in play.

Within he square 21 facing'each of the players denoted as N, E, .S andW, is a dot or hole 3 1, preferably black, whereis adapted to bepositioned a symbol or marker C, denoting the trump suit or N. T. as thecase may be, after the full round of declaration has been made, andimmediately before the dot 3st is, positionedthe dot-or other suitablemarking 35, preferably of a contrasting color such as red, where isadapted to be positioned the marker Q denoting dealer after dealer ordistributor has been decided upon.

With further reference to board 1, it will be noted where the same is ofsuificient thickness, a drawer or container Za for holding, shufiiing,etc., the symbols Z, may be inserted in the recess Z?) in said board, orthe.

said container may be suitably cbnstructed separate therefrom, ifdesired." Having described my game board and cooperating units, I willnow describe their operation. In working out a certain problem the cardsymbols are indicate Z, 52 in number, .representin cards used in bridge,the said symbols or p ayer pieces Z are placed according to desire ordeal, so that,North, East, South and West designated as the players,each have 13 symbols or cards.

in connection with the board 1, the pres: 5 ent illustration shows thedifferent bands arranged on Fig. 1, which can be readily seen in a notrump deal. This is then recorded by removing the g) counter denoting Notrump, and placing it in the E column ing good cards bid one no trump,East also passes. The game now proceeds according to bridge rules. b' Inthis iiista gce, with d b 1 Nort i, p ay y tric sis operate y acirlg thepla er pieces Z from A side of fi ure one to side inthecorrespondingcdlumns, under the heading Play by tricks;

the winner is then declared pg column, op-

I then does likewise,

opposite North, due'to the fact that South.

no trump suit bid placing red posite the player 1, which here would be 7North.

in original manner which can be easily done due to the suit arrangementD on both A and B sides, or changing at will for further problems.

From'the foregoing it will be apparent that board 1 may be utilized as acomplete practice board in itself, and as above shown the card symbolsare placed on the left of A side, according to the hands held by eachplayer, and play begins by transferring the Z symbols from the A sideand placing them in column 1 of the B side on the first play; in thesecond column on the following play, etc., thus representing eachpractice move until the game is completely worked out as shown in Fig. lwhere three plays have been made. The winner is declared by placing ared marker G in the respective space incoiumn W.

When it desired to use the'modified form of game board 1' the playproceeds as follows: Select dealer and place symbol D in respectiveposition and then bid, when trump is declared place C marker symboldenoting suit transfer the symbols Z from their location under theheading Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs, respectively, to lines infront of each side denoting the players, as N, S, Eand W according tothe deal, 'or where an individual is using board in practice, acclprdingto the problem to be worked out.

la dealer placing the symbol desired played in space 1 been consummatedby all four players, then place symbol C marker in front of the playerwho took the last trick in arrow 29 in front of square space 1 (red)designating the trick taken. This will signify the tricks taken by thewinning player and in this manner designate the winning side at the endof play. After the playing of, each four symbols Z,

as above described and the four symbols played aredropped in cup 23, theplaying of in respective position 34, then now begins by the party toleft of (red) designated as 27, next player etc., until first play has.

said O marker denoting the winner is placed next trick is resumed andthe play proceeds s before. At the end of all 13 tricks denoted by saidmarkers in arrows 29, a visualiz ed insigriia of the side or partnerswho have won, according to the rules of bridge,

will be presented. As' above stated, after each trick has been playedthe card symbols are discarded by being placed in cup 23,..and areshuflled for the next deal by a card being placed over the cup and thecup shaken, the

symbols Z being drawn therefrom by the respective players for new handsas in the first instance. I

Where it is desired that, the

hands not be exposed, the holder 18 can be'used in conjunction withboard 1, play proceeding as follows: After shuffling, each player willdraw one symbol Z at a time from the cup 23 the same as dealing,andplace the same on holder 18 in its respective position, there beingnormally fourvof such holders. Then bid and proceed as in regularbridge, by transferring the symbols as played from the holder 18,placing same in play column 1 (red) denoted as 27, and proceed asinitially described in connection with board In.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire protected by LettersPatent is as set forth in the following claims:

1. In combination a game board and a plurality of game pieces, certainof which constitute markers denoting, trumps, no trump, dealer, andwmner, the face of said board being divided into four divisionsrepresenting players indicated as North, East, South, and West,respectively, each division divided into two sections by a trumpdeclared column, all of said sections being divided into fourlongitudinal columns designating the respective game piece suits, andinto thirteen vertical columns representing the game piece facedesignations and forming 52 squares adapted to receive the respectivegame pieces according to their suit and face designations, the othercomplemental section being similarly divided into 52 squaresrepresenting suit and trick numbers, each square adapted to receive andrecord a respective game piece according to its suit and number of trickin which played, and a space adjacent each of said latter Sectionsadapted to receive a game piece representing the Winner.

2. In combination a game board and a plurality of game pieces, certainof said I the playing face p eces constituting markers, of said boardbeing divided into two areas, each area divided into four complementalsections, the dividing line between said Seetions'being common to bothrespective sections divided into four longi- I tudinal columnsrepresenting the card suits,

respectively, one area, divided into thirteen vertical columns commontoits respective sections and representing the face designations of saidgame pieces, the other area similarly divided into thirteen verticalcolumns designating the number of tricks, :1 winner column adjacent saidlatter area adapted to receive a winner game piece adjacent a respectivesection, whereby the game pieces representing hands held before play areadapted to be arranged in the respective sections according to suit andface designations and transferred to theother area and arranged in therespective sections according to the suit and the particular trick inwhich played.

ALBERT N. LATIMER.

respectively,

areas, each of the v

